''Gesomyrmex germanicus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

in the subfamily

Formicinae The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development. Formicines retain some primitive features, such as the presence of cocoons around pupae, the presence of ocelli in workers, and littl ...

known from an

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

fossil found in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. ''G. germanicus'' is one of only eight species in the ant genus ''

Gesomyrmex ''Gesomyrmex'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae. The genus contains six extant species, known from the Indomalayan realm, and nine fossil species. Of the extant species, four are known only from workers (''G. chaperi'', ''G. howardi ...

'' to have been described from fossils found in Europe.

History and classification

When described ''Gesomyrmex germanicus'' was known from a group of four insects which are compression-impression fossils preserved in a layer of soft

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock formed by the cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or deposited at Earth's surface. Sedime ...

rock. Along with other well preserved insect fossils, the ''G. germanicus'' specimens were collected from layers of the

Lutetian The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage (stratigraphy), stage or age (geology), age in the Eocene. It spans the time between . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it ...

Eckfeld maar. The formation is composed of Brown coals, oil shales, and

Bituminous shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitute ...

which preserved numerous insects, fish, birds, reptiles, and terrestrial mammals as a notable lagerstätten. The area is a preserved maar lake which initially formed approximately 47 million years ago as the result of volcanic explosions. At the time of description, the type series consisted of the holotype specimen, NHMM PE-1997/29 and paratype specimen NHMM PE-1998/13; along with two additional fossils NHMM PE-1998/1 and NHMM PE-1998/9. They were preserved in the Landessammlung fur Naturkunde Rheinland-Pfalz fossil collections. The insects were first studied by German entomologists Gennady Dlussky, Torsten Wappler and Sonja Wedmann, with their 2009 type description of the new species being published in the electronic journal ''Zootaxa''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''germanicus'' is derived from Germany, the country where the fossils are found. The species is one of eight ''Gesomyrmex'' species, all of which have been described from European fossils. Three species were described prior to ''G. germanicus'', '' G. bremii'' in 1849, '' G. hoernesi'' in 1868, and '' G. miegi'' in 1937. The remaining four species; '' G. breviceps'', '' G. curiosus'', '' G. flavescens'', and '' G. pulcher'' were all described by Dlussky ''et al'' in the same 2009 paper as ''G. germanicus''. Six modern species have been described so far, all from the Tropical regions of Asia, creating a disjunct distribution between the fossil species and the modern species.

Description

The ''Gesomyrmex germanicus'' specimens are partially preserved queen caste adults which are fossilized with their dorsal side facing upwards and the attached wings folded along their back. The overall length of the hoplotype queen is approximately and the head has an estimated length of . The antennae are slender in appearance, composed of a scape which extends to the middle of the

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

and an undetermined number of

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

segments. The overall coloration of the body is black, while the wings are preserved as clear, with darkened

pterostigma The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonflies, but present also in ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q119629 Lutetian insects Eocene insects of Europe Fossil ant taxa Formicinae Insects described in 2009 Lutetian species